Basking in the glory of home-grown greens || My Nani's Kitchen-Garden

Last weekend I was at my Maternal Grandparents home in Himachal Pradesh. During monsoons it was green all around and kitchen garden of my grandmother was in full bloom. This photo Journey shares some of the photographs clicked around our home in small village called Chauntra in Hamirpur District of Himachal Pradesh.

Above photograph shows Pomegranates in one of the trees on the corner. This was first time, I was seeing large number of Pomegranates on this tree and hope that every piece survives till end. My grandparents avoid to use any pesticides, so many times it's hard to keep these fruits safe. This time we had a long discussion and if this year these fruits don't survive, I need to figure out appropriate ways of using pesticides with minimal impact on the quality of fruits.

Apart from Pomegranates & Mangoes, there are various other plants having colorful flowers. Above photograph shows juvenile leaves of one of the plants in kitchen-garden. Orangish leaves looked amazing among all green ones around...

Leaves of pumpkin Vine in our kitchen garden. Post monsoons is best time to be there at my grandparents place. Most of the times, they consume vegetables grown in their own gardens or fields. Taste of those vegetables and fruits is always amazing... I really miss the real taste of Cucumber in Delhi... While at Home, I always think of old days when we used to go to vegetable farms to get fresh cucumbers and we used to eat the younger versions with lot of excitement...

Bougainvillea flowers were everywhere around the boundary of our house. They were in dark-pink and white color... White colored ones look better to me but pink ones were more photogenic :)

Other day I was going to Rajouri Garden from Noida through Inner-circle and we were really happy to see well maintained plants of Bougainvillea flowers on divider, but suddenly we realized that Delhi Government only wants to maintain south side of the city and there was hardly any care of plants in North Delhi...

Green Chillies... Apart from just adding taste to our food, green chilies have a lot of health advantages. Therefore, the wisest thing is to feel the burn and enjoy the benefits of green chilies, which can be enjoyed in different ways... Usually Green chillies are consumed fresh and at times pickled version is also preferred. In fact, many times green chillies are mixed with salt to use the mixture with fresh cucumbers...

It's not possible that we don't see Coriander in Grandmother's Kitchen Garden. Coriandrum is also known as cilantro, Chinese parsley or dhania... Coriander leaves are plucked only when needed for best possible fragrance in food... Above photograph shows one of the isolated plant of Coriande, otherwise it's seen as bunch of plants...

It's some form of mushroom which is not consumed but usullay seen in many vegetable farms of Himachal Pradesh. Especially it can be seen around compost store... Some of the local doctors (hakeems) use this in some medicine...

Cucumber Tendrils... Cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around supports with thin, spiraling tendrils. Vine has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit. Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, botanically speaking, cucumbers are classified as fruits. However, much like tomatoes and squash they are often perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables

A group of pumpkin tendrils tied strongly with mango tree in the garden...

A photograph of Himalayan Herb which can be seen everywhere in Himchal Pradesh and other hilly states of India. It's illegal to grow this but various plants can be seen roadside and not sure if this one is so special as that of Malana or not...

Smaller versions of Magoes and this times, they were huge numbers in Himachal Pradesh as well. Ideal process to eat them - Bring a bucket half-filled with water and put all mangoes (30-50) into the water. Have another bucket on other side and after that, it's self service :) ... My cousin sister was also there to give me company... So everyday she used to bring those tasty mangoes for everyone at home... Apart from one tree in Kitchen Garden, we have few more in vegetable farms and variety of every tree is different. So there are some sub-groups in family who like mangoes of particular trees.

Again a photograph of pumpkin vine with shining Tendril... A tendril is a specialized stem or leaf with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support and attachment, generally by twining around suitable hosts. They can be formed from modified shoots, modified leaves, or auxiliary branches and are sensitive to airborne chemicals, often determining the direction of growth...

Another Tendril having rest on one of the leaves of another vine. I am not sure about the name of vegetable this vine will give... probably will check with my Grandmother and update here...

There are various other kinds of flowers including - Dahlia, Bougainvillea, Bird Of Paradise, Gerbera Daisy & Gladiolus etc...

There are some Roses, which are usually used for morning pooja(worship) at home. Although my Grandfather doesn't like plucking flowers from garden, but he always fail to convince my grandmother :) ...